LSU Has Attendance Inflation Down To A Science

LSU’s Tiger Stadium seating capacity is 92,400. But If you follow college football, you know that LSU exceeds that number for every big game they have. For instance, this year’s Florida-LSU game attendance was 93,129. And the LSU-Arkansas game had a final attendance of 93,013. So you’re probably asking yourself, how does LSU find seats for those extra people??? They don’t. Those people didn’t buy a ticket.

“We include the number of credentials we give out to the media and those people that work the events,” said Michael Bonnette, associate athletic director and sports information director. “The number can sometimes be higher than what the capacity of the stadium can hold.”

LSU Ticket Office manager Brian Broussard said anyone who watches the game in the stadium is counted in the final attendance numbers.

“We count the press level, and we count Boy Scouts who work sort of as ushers,” he said. “We count people who don’t occupy seats that are sold on the stadium but are at attendance at the event.”

Broussard said photographers and other press members on the field who aren’t allowed access to the press box are still included in the final attendance. Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said facility and concession workers are also included.

“There’s a small army of people that have to work to put a game on, and we count everybody in the stadium as people who attend the game,” Vincent said.

Even ESPN gets counted.

“If it’s something like the Alabama game or the Florida game, you have a television crew here, and they might have an HD crew here,” Vincent said. “ESPN Gameday may be here, and they have a crew.”

So there you have it. LSU has taught you how to boast your attendance, and I would not be surprised if that goes on around the country.